The present invention relates generally to a method and device for reducing stuttering and more particularly, to an anti-stuttering device and method for transmitting non-tissue conducted voice related signals to the speaker's ear to react with tissue transmitted voice related signals.
As indicated in the Webster U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,115 dated Nov. 15, 1988, the application of a non-tissue conducted audio signal related to the vocal pulses of a stutterer to a sealed ear canal has proven highly beneficial in therapy. It has now been discovered that the benefit may be a result of the interaction of tissue conducted and non-tissue conducted audio signals related to the vocal pulses of the speaker, and that the temporal relationship between the tissue conducted and non-tissue conducted acoustic signals may be selectively varied to maximize the benefit to a particular speaker.
As it is well known, there is a substantial difference between "voice" and "speech". "Voice" sounds are associated with the opening and closing of the vocal folds in the throat of the speaker and are low frequency signals generally less than 500 Hz in frequency, i.e., typically somewhat lower for males (125-150 Hz) than for females (225-300 Hz). These "vocal pulses" are sometimes referred to as the "vocal buzz" or "vocal tones". "Voice" is that background of tissue-conducted sound a speaker hears through his body (i.e., "tissue conducted") which others do not hear. This addition of "voice" to "speech" accounts for the difference in sound a person hears when speaking and when listening to his recorded speech.
"Speech" is generally understood to be the complex time varying signals recognized as possessing communication value and involves a conduction of sound through the air.
The application of a non-tissue conducted voice signal within a sealed ear canal of a speaker is described and claimed in said Webster patent, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.